Sound governance of Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) is critical for ensuring delivery of high-quality audits, as well as other core results that in turn contribute to improve public sector accountability and lives of everyone. SAIs are therefore expected to act as model organizations in all relevant areas, including how they govern their human resources, which are by far their most important and valuable assets. This includes both audit and non-audit staff. For an SAI, leading by example in this area involves ensuring appropriately designed and well-functioning human resource management systems that promote ethical behavior, gender-responsive practices, and an inclusive culture across the SAI’ systems and operations. Building sound human resources management is also essential for ensuring and improving SAI performance in line with its strategic goals and priorities.

Data from the 2020 Global Stocktaking Report1 and other relevant sources show that there is substantial room for improvement when it comes to SAIs’ capacities to effectively manage their human resources, their own ethics and being gender responsive and inclusive organizations.

Human resources management (HRM), Gender, Inclusiveness and Ethics have in common to reflect the organizational culture which affects the approach for governing staff, as well as the ethics culture and the appetite and opportunities for gender-responsiveness and inclusiveness. All three areas have people and workers of the organization as their key focus (as opposed to other areas focused on systems and operations), and therefore necessarily affect each other. This provides a good reason for these three closely interrelated topics to be addressed under one initiative.

The TOGETHER initiative aims to support SAIs (based on context, gaps, and needs) in enhancing their overall systems for governing their human resource, ethics, gender and inclusiveness, thus contributing to better governance of SAIs and improved contribution to accountability, integrity and governance in the public sector. The initiative intends to be relevant for all models of SAIs, regardless of their HR system features, which can vary based on their institutional arrangements and administrative tradition, their level of independence and autonomy, etc.

The initiative will comprise three components: an overarching one on human resource management which also reviews ethics, gender, and inclusiveness; as well as more in-depth interventions on ethics, gender, and inclusiveness for selected SAIs.

TOGETHER Initiative will be offered to SAIs across all INTOSAI regions, from 2022 and starting with a pilot group. The initiative will be then rolled-out to a larger group of SAIs, based on lessons learned from the pilot phase. Participation will be based on commitments between voluntary SAIs and IDI, which will address all the three components of the initiative. Resources and material developed as part of the initiative will be made available for all SAIs regardless of their level of development. IDI is also looking for experience from the INTOSAI community in HRM in SAIs. If your SAI would like to contribute to the initiative by sharing its experience, this is very much appreciated. You can get in touch via email: alain.memvuh@idi.no